


Return to Innocence

by OinkyThePiggy



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-06
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2017-12-07 15:05:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/749889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OinkyThePiggy/pseuds/OinkyThePiggy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cerberus is at it again: genetic experimentation. This time they've created a human-turian hybrid. She's fated to live as a guinea pig until a turian unit, lead by Adrien Victus, finds her during a raid on a Cerberus facility.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - "Stolen Child"

** Return to Innocence **  
**Prologue - “Stolen Child”**

_'Come away, O human child_  
 _To the waters and the wild_  
 _With a faery, hand in hand_  
 _For the world's more full of weeping_  
 _Than you can understand.'_  
_~Loreena McKennitt_  

_**                                                                                                                                                                                 
**_ _**2173** _

 

**F:/Pandora/Lab3/Nexus/Logs/Audio/388.omni**

“Subjects D001 through G129 have failed to take. Scrapping gene samples from H020 through H040 and T014 through T053.”

 

“Samples from H046, H048 and H057 yielded the best results.”

 

“As did samples T071, T104 and T117.”

 

“Based on these genetic strengths, we should have a viable subject within the week.”

 

 

**F:/Pandora/Lab3/Nexus/Logs/Audio/461.omni**

“Subjects J001 through J007 were stable until about an hour ago. Subjects J008 and J009 are stable enough for further testing.”

 

“Subject J008: Genes from samples H048 and T117 sustainable.”

 

“Subject J009: Genes from samples H048 and T071 sustainable.”

 

 

**F:/Pandora/Lab3/Nexus/Logs/Audio/486.omni**

“Subject J009 is showing progress. Tank programming has proven successful. Showing higher grasp of combat skills than others in her age group of either species. Will test L3 implant during tomorrow's exercise.”

 

“Sir, her body is still adjusting to the implant. I would advi..”

  
“We will proceed as scheduled.”

 

 

**F:/Pandora/Lab3/Nexus/Logs/Audio/511.omni**

“This is ridiculous. The program was supposed to test the genetic viability of the two races, not experiment on a _little girl_. I'm putting out a turian distress beacon. She's got a higher tolerance for dextro as she is now. It would be best for her to be found by the Hierarchy over the Alliance. I... don't expect to survive the outcome, I don't deserve to. I just hope she can get out of here before it's too late.”

 

 

~~~~

 

  
It's cold, and dark, and wet. She opens her eyes slowly and tries to focus. Everything is blurry. She blinks, takes a breath, and.. bubbles? Water. She's in water.

 

 

She opens her eyes. She still can't focus. There's a blurry figure in white, almost face-to-face with her. A deep muffled sound. Another white figure comes into view. The sound is still muffled, but lighter.

 

 

Her eyes spring open. There's a loud noise all around her. The water, it's moving! The figures in white are more and gathered in front of her. She drops to her knees, exposed to the air that now surrounds her, gagging. A white figure approaches and removes something from her throat. She's gasping now, and shivering. Another figure puts a blanket around her.

 

 

It hurts. She feels the back of her neck at the scar where they put it in. L3. That's what they called it. She already moves her body the way the tank showed her. Fighting. She's been fighting bigger things than her. Now they want her to use, biotics? It hurts.

 

 

Run. Just run. The guard hasn't noticed his friend yet, the alarms are silent. She looks up at the cameras, one is moving with her. Someone knows. Someone knows and hasn't alerted the guards. _Why?_ She shakes off the feeling of unease that creeps upon her. She needs to get out. _Run!_

 

 

~~~~

 

 

“Sir! Just picked up a distress signal. It's turian, but..”

 

“But...”

 

“We're supposed to be the only team out here.”

 

“Noted. Alert the ground team. They are to proceed with caution. If it's one of ours, it's a rescue and, they'll have some explaining to do. If not, we'll leave nothing left to explain.”

 

“Yes, sir!”

 

 


	2. Chapter 1 - "What Child is This?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cerberus is at it again: genetic experimentation. This time they've created a human-turian hybrid. She's fated to live as a guinea pig until a turian unit, lead by Adrien Victus, finds her during a raid on a Cerberus facility.

**Return to Innocence  
** **Chapter One - “What Child is This?”**

  
_'Why lies, she, in such mean estate_  
 _Wherein labs, the docs are fiending_  
 _All sentients, fear: for Cerb'rus here_  
 _The silent worlds are pleading_  
 _Blades, tech have pierced her through_  
 _The scars she bears because of you_  
 _Cry, cry this girl made flesh_  
 _The babe, the child of demons'  
_ _~Self (with reference to stanza 2 of “What Child is This?”)_

   
 _ **2173**_

 

The landscape is thick with trees and overgrowth. Very dense humidity is starting to settle and the temperature is enough to rival Palaven. It's this planet's night-cycle, which should last a few hours, more so if the humidity breaks into a storm. Typically this would be considered a good thing, makes for easier recon, but something just isn't sitting right with Captain Adrien Victus. He orders his men to set up camp in a small clearing they come by. They quickly pitch a few camo-tents, and set one up as a makeshift med-bay. Victus takes point in one as a command post.

“Lietuenant Kryik,” he waves him over.

“Sir? We're just about ready to send out the scouting party.”

“Very good. Make sure your men keep focus, there's something amiss here.”

“Understood, sir. I feel it too. Something tells me this won't be a rescue. It's going to get messy.”

“Indeed.”

~~~~

  
Running, she's still running. There's a camera always following her and she still hasn't alerted any of the guards. _What is going on? The guards can't be_ that _dumb._ She takes a moment to catch her breath on a catwalk. An hour, she's been loose for an hour and she still can't find her way out. _Is there even a way out? It's not like they.._ Looking down she recognizes the room, full of vats, her birthplace. She feels a shudder overcome her remembering the cold and wetness from that day. All those people in white, watching her. A sound echoes off the walls, pulling her out of the memory. _What was that?_ She hears, trilling? She thinks that's what it's called. Yes, trilling. ' _A sound turians create to place emphasis on emotion._ ', says a voice, not her own, from the back of her mind. _This sounds sad, almost like crying._

She follows the sound and it doesn't take her long when she comes across a holding cell. Through the window there's a captured turian, severely beaten, barely alive. The turian acknowledges her presence and trills for help. She stops. She needs to run, but she can't just leave her behind. After another look around, all is clear, and a final glance at that creepy camera, she enters the cell.

“Hello?” The girl calls out nervously. The room is small and the lighting dim and she's next to the turian in seconds. She can smell the overwhelming sterility a med-bay has. She also smells blood, something she's far too familiar with, and glances at her scars in fearful memory.

~

The captive is startled. Those sounds were for another of her kind. _A human shouldn't have been able_ _to... there's something strange about this girl. So young. What is she even doing here?_

“ _I was born here_ ” the girl replies, and starts undoing the restraints. The turian's eyes go wide, she hadn't realized she asked that aloud. Even still... it was in her own tongue, and the girl replied the same. Her confusion was swiftly interrupted by the sound of the alarm. They look at each other with growing fear.

~

_Someone knows I'm here. The camera? Or maybe they finally found that guard..._

 

 

_~~~~_

 

 

“Recon team, _'This one follows North'_ , report-”

[Lieutenant, I though I told you to stay focused.]

“-ing in, sir!” Damn, the old man needs to lighten up. He's under 'strict' orders from home to keep his dear ol' captain from having an aneurysm. Granted, he's probably more likely to _cause_ one, but still. He sighs into focus before replying, “Of course, sir. Teams are reporting a large facility. Looks to be Cerberus. If there _was_ anyone to save, sir, there's probably nothing left of them now.”

~

Adrien sighs in frustration. Spirits help him. His nephew losing focus, even for a moment, in the middle of a recon mission is bad, especially here. Cerberus. So _that's_ the cause for unease, not that knowing makes things better. “Kryik, proceed with caution. They've done well to hide from detection for so long, infiltration may not-” Alarms are blaring and echo throughout the perimeter. “Damn-it Lieutenant, I told you-”

[It wasn't us! Something must have their attention on the inside. We're going to use this to our advantage and infiltrate. Maybe there's someone to save after all!]

“No! Nih-, Lieutenant! You and your men are to hold position! That's an order!” Victus gets nothing but static. Damned kid, better not get himself killed. Ashta will have his ass for letting her only nephew die under his command.

~~

Nihlus and his men make a swift entry, using the distracted guards to their advantage. The first terminal they reach gives them schematics of the compound. Looks like the main information hub is a few levels down. _Of course it is. Since when is data retrieval easy?_ Shaking his head in amusement, he signals his squad to make way to the central hub.

It's almost too easy, how quickly they make it down there. Something big must be going on for the guards to be taken so unawares. Most of them weren't even armed, save for taser-prods and stun-guns.

With men at each entrance, and a couple scouts on patrol, his techs are making short work of Cerberus' data network. For whatever reason, the system failed to initiate a data purge. _Probably because of an experiment gone wrong. Serves them righ-._ Something caught his attention. Something moved across the surveillance screen. A guard most likely but, before he can dismiss it, he sees more movement on-screen. _No,_ now _there are guards on-screen. And they're armed_.

One of his scouts comes rushing over.

“Sir! The guards have directed their attention to us! Whatever they were after before, they're aware of us now as well!”

“Acknowledged.” Indicating the techs he orders, “The two of you stay here and get whatever information you can. The moment the situation gets hot, purge it and get the hell back to base. Is that understood?!”

“Yes, sir!”

“The rest of you, with me. Let's properly introduce ourselves, shall we?”

~~~~

 

She hears gunfire now. _Maybe whoever they're shooting at tripped the alarm?_ She can only hope. The turian woman she has with her is moving so slow. Can't really blame her. She's covered in gashes and parts of her plates are broken and chipped. She wishes she could be of more help. She's not nearly tall enough for the woman to lean on her and she can hear her breaths becoming heavy.

Multiple armored footsteps. They're gaining on them. She hears the door behind them open and tugs the turian to the ground. She turns to face a squad of armed guards puts up a small, weak, _Barrier_ around them. Training exercises had her making small fields for better defense, but she never tested for live rounds. The guards open fire and in mere seconds she can feel her strength failing.

~

The turian just sits there in awe. That's all she _can_ do. She's useless as she is now and she's relying on a small human child to get her to safety. She hears the girl cry out and sees blood trickling from a graze on her cheek. _Blue?!_ Great, she's hallucinating now. There's no way that-.

There's an explosion and the girl is thrown to the ground.

~

As she comes to she can hear more gunfire. It starts to die down, only a few shouts and pistol shots before there's deafening silence. She can't see, there's so much dust from the rubble. Now there's footsteps, slow but approaching them. The girl tries to put up another _Barrier_. Breathing is hard, she can feel her neck burning and she's starting to feel dizzy. The woman says something, but she can't make out the words. As a figure starts to form through the dust, she can just barely see a turian silhouette. She feels her body give, then passes out.

~~~

The dust is settling and he can almost make out two sets of eyes glowing at him. One, a fiery red, the other an icy electric blue. As he gets closer, he hears a flanged voice laced with worry, then sees the faint blue of biotics crackle and fade. When he gets out of the dust, he's surprised to see a small human child and a severely wounded turian huntress. He looks at the turian quizzically and she manages an equally confused and exhausted trill before she, too, passes out.

“What the..” He picks up the child and indicates one of his men do the same for the huntress. _Victus is just going to_ love _this. One more thing to add to the list of 'What did Nihlus do_ now _?!'._

  

~~~~

 

It's taking all of Adrien's will-power not to abandon his post and go after his nephew. Sure, situations have gone sideways many times, but none of them involved family. He knows it shouldn't matter, family is expected to be treated like any other soldier. _Easier said than done_. Keeping his composure, he pretends to write up a report in his tent. If only to keep him from pacing and putting the rest of his men on edge.

_We should be with them. He hasn't lead that many men before. Especially not into a high security facility. A_ Cerberus _compound! If those damned alarms hadn't gone off, he would have reported back to camp and we'd have been approaching this as an entire unit! Not just a couple of recon teams..._

  

 

_It's taking too long, it's been nearly three hours. I need to organize a recovery squad and hope to the Spirits there's something left to retr..._

At that moment, Nihlus and his recon teams return to camp. For the most part, in one piece.

“Lieutenant. If you _ever_ pull a stunt like that ag-” the captain stops short of his reprimand when he sees a human child and an injured huntress being carried into the camp.

Nihlus ignores him for the moment, his attention on the girl in his arms. He puts her down gently on a cot in the med-bay. She's covered in blood, he assumes is the huntress', and he starts to clean her up. To his horror he sees her cleaned cuts and scrapes start to trickle fresh blood, _blue_ blood. “Oh, Spirits.” he gasps. He looks around and is relieved to see no one has heard him, or seen _that_ yet. He picks up the child and brings her to his captain's tent.

“Sir, I understand your wanting to reprimand me but, forgive me for saying, it'll have to wait.”

Confused at the formality of his nephew behind closed doors, Victus nods and lets him continue.

“We found this child inside the facility. She was with that huntress we brought in.” Nihlus is trying to hide the fear and anxiety behind his words but he knows his uncle has picked up on it. “She, we thought, I was-.” He looks down at the girl, then back at Victus. Victus follows his gaze to the child and sees what has him so worked up. A human, who isn't bleeding red.

Understanding the fear Nihlus was trying to hide, he puts his hand on his shoulder to calm him. “Nihlus, it's alright. We'll figure this out. Your men just dropped off the data they retrieved, let's take a look. Maybe there's an explanation.” Victus tries to console him, knowing full well that whatever answers they find won't make things any better. _For this child to be in the state she's in..._ He shakes his head, Cereberus is a damned curse.

They lay the girl on an ammo crate, then turn their attention to the data packet they received. Not wanting to overwhelm either of them, Victus chooses the most recent entries.

[ **F:/Pandora/Lab3/Nexus/Logs/Audio/520.omni**

Subject J009 has 'escaped' her holding cell. Test is faring well. Guards are hunting her down. No need for alarms. She doesn't need to panic, yet. Won't get too far anyway, tracking her progr-

**  
F:/Pandora/Lab3/Nexus/Logs/Audio/521.omni **

Facilty under attack! Turian military by the looks of it. Guards need to get Subject J009 before they-]

 

“Okay, well that doesn't really tell us much. We know who attacked them and we figured she was being.. _tested_ on.” Adrien shudders at the thought of what else they've done to the girl. He selects the next one back. It's distorted, but mostly intact.

 

[ **F:/Pandora/Lab3/Nexus/Logs/Audio/511.omni**

This is ri3%6*!ous. The prog\\.^1- (cds~ >#2&0o test the genetic `(@n,>} 5!;s| not experiment on a _little girl_. I'm 70~-f$] ?'i-i-i-ian distress beacon. She's got a higher tolerance for dextro \\*23#nj(0. *%`^_- est for her to be found by the Hierar@// *!ha\8 >..# !k{ps? ~(rx”< -st-st hope she can get out of here before it's too late.]

 

“Spirits..” The two men breathe out together. They look at each other, then over at the girl. What are they going to do with her?

“I'm, I'll go get some medi-gel for her. At least we know now it won't kill her.” Nihlus excuses himself. As he crosses the camp, he sees the huntress is awake by a fire. Her wounds are healed, excluding the plate damage, _that's_ going to require surgery. He's curious about her capture, and about the girl, and sees there's unused medi-gel next to her. Figuring that reason enough, he makes his way over and sits down.

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

“Better, now that I'm here.” she nods to the camp, then looks back at him. “I don't know,” she starts, “about the girl I mean. I barely remember my own captivity. I was strapped to a table and calling for help, not that anyone there would hear me...” She closes her eyes, remembering the girl walking in, “Then she opened the door, brave little thing, and started to free me – no questions asked.”

“How strange,” he says out loud, mostly to himself.

She huffs at the comment, “No, what's strange is her speaking turian. Or me thinking she did. I thought I was thinking to myself, about why she was there, and she replied to me. Said she was _born_ there. Spirits, I don't know what sounds crazier, her speaking in turian or what she said. Or what I _think_ she said...” She shakes her head, then continues. “After my restraints were undone, the alarms went off, then it all went to hell. She helped me the best she could, such a tiny thing, and then armed guards caught up with us.”  
She puts her head in her hands, reliving the helplessness she felt. “This little girl, she tugged on my arm for me to get to the ground, and you know what she did? She turned to face the guards and put up a biotic _Barrier_ around us. I just stared at her, I couldn't do anything to help. It only took moments before a round grazed her face and then... I really must have been seeing things because I swear she was bleeding blue.” She waves her hand as if to dismiss the idea. “Forget I mentioned that. Probably just imagining things, considering the state you found me in.” The huntress sighed. “Anyway, she was doing her damnedest until a blast threw her to the ground beside me. When she came to, she must have thought we were still in danger and tried to hold another _Barrier_. I told her she didn't have to try so hard. I could see her breathing heavily and start to waver. Her body gave out shortly before you made it through that cloud of dust.” She starts shaking, the recollection too much for her weakened state. She lies down and Nihlus takes his leave, with medi-gel in hand.

~~~ 

He kneels next to the girl, after Nihlus leaves, and finds himself brushing back her, _what's it called again,_ hair. It's white, which he could swear is a color common to the elder folk of humans, with some deep red strands flitted throughout. All cropped to just above her jaw. She looks so pale, but who knows what normal _is_ for her? Normally a blue tinge to a human's skin would indicate a significantly lowered body temperature. Then again some humans tend to be pink-ish because of their blood, so maybe blue is okay. He does a bio-scan and checks her vitals, her breathing has evened and her temperature, normal. There's an anomaly though, it reads that her body is only a few months old yet she's got the development of a 5 year old. Just as he's finishing up the scan, Nihlus walks in.

“Nihlus? What's wrong?”

He looks over to the child, recollecting everything the huntress just explained to him. “I'll brief you but, first, let me administer this. She doesn't need an infection on top of all else that's happened to her.”

 


	3. Chapter 2 - "Paradise"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brought to Palaven while sleeping, Aiaras awakens to find herself in a strange new place.

**Return to Innocence  
** **Chapter Two - “Paradise”**

_'When she was just a girl_  
 _She expected the world_  
 _But it flew away from her reach_  
 _So she ran away in her sleep_  
 _And dreamed of paradise_  
 _Every time she closed her eyes'  
_ _~Coldplay_

 

_  
**2173** _

 

He's looking out the window of the shuttle, his home somewhere beneath the clouds and atmosphere. Upon re-entry, the vessel meets with some turbulence and the passengers shift side-to-side. He looks down at the girl, sleeping with her head resting on his lap, then over to Nihlus who now looks at the girl, grinning. Adrien follows his gaze and realizes he's been stroking the girl's hair. He quickly retracts his hand and looks back out the window. _This all happened so fast..._

~~~

_Adrien stands in the CIC, staring at the blinking light on the com-panel. It's only been a few minutes since they returned to the ship and the Primarch is already wanting a debrief. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and straightens his posture before accepting communication. Instantly, the full image of the Primarch flickers before him._

_[Captain, what news do you have for me?]_

“ _Sir, our team responded to a distress beacon and came across a hidden Cerberus facility.”_

_[Cerberus?! I take it you and your men know now what they were doing down there?]_

“ _Not exactly sir, and only one of my men knows. That's why I'm here.” He braces himself for the reaction and explains. “They were doing extensive genetic-manipulation research. I know, not surprising, but what we found is unfathomable. They engineered a hybrid, both turian and human, and they were successful. Sir, we found a child.”_

_Primarch Fedorian is speechless. His mandibles pulled tight to his face, posture rigid. There's a beat then, [What did you do with it?]_

_At this, Nihlus enters the room. “We brought_ her _back to the camp and cleaned her up. None of the others know of her condition, not yet at least.”_

_[Care to elaborate?]_

“ _Well, sir, with her being hybrid she's dextro-tolerant and has our blood. She's also only three months old, but scans show she's got the development of a human of five years. Also, according to a turian huntress we rescued, she can speak turian. The huntress believes herself to have been delusional, due to her weakened state, so I don't think we need to worry about her.”_

_[I'll assume that your specifics imply she should be under the charge of the Hierarchy?]_

_Adrien shakes his head, “Not us sir, one of the scientists. We came across an audio log of the one who sent the distress beacon. He indicated that she'd be best cared for by our own. Though, who-”_

_~_

“ _You could take her, un- sir.” Nihlus interjected, hiding a smirk as his uncle tried to keep from losing his cool. He's going to hear about this later, he knows, but he's taken a liking to her. “You have a son about the same age, you'd be the best option. Besides, the less people know of her the better, right Primarch?”_

_[He does make a valid point, Adrien. It'd be best if we kept this as contained as possible, and having a child of your own does make you a more capable candidate. Since we both know Lieutenant Kryik here, wouldn't know heads from tails on how to care for her.]_

_The jab at Nihlus took them both off-guard, though Adrien took some pleasure in the young turian's discomfort. “If that is what you think best, sir, then I will take charge of the girl.” But then a thought occurred to him. “Primarch, what about the Alliance? Should we inform them of our finding? She_ is _part human. Rather, her physical appearance is more human than turian.”_

_[You let me handle the politics. The Hierarchy may find it best for all parties to keep her under wraps for now. For all we know, Cerberus could have agents waiting for her to return to Alliance territory and resume experimentation.]_

_The three men all try to hold back the shudder that creeps up on them. They have the data retrieved from Cerberus, but it may be best to just not know all the horrific details. The debriefing is concluded and when the Primarch's image winks out, Adrien turns to Nihlus and smacks him upside the head._

“ _I totally deserved that, but it was worth it.” the young turian grinned_

~~~

Adrien chuckled to himself. Yeah, it's worth it. He already considered taking the child before Nihlus stepped in but, seeing him take such interest in the girl to put forth an effort to keep her, it was enough to put his mind at ease. He looks back down at the girl, soft expression on his face, and starts to stroke her hair again.

“Now, what to call you?”

~

Nihlus feels the shuttle shake upon re-entry, then turns his attention to his uncle. _He's gone soft for the girl. So why did he give such a fuss about taking her? Maybe he's not such a hard ass after all._ Nihlus grins and turns his attention back to the girl in his uncle's lap. He vouched to have her come home with them, yet he's probably the most nervous between them. Nervous, and excited. There's just something that makes him feel protective of her, the same way he'd want to protect Tarquin. Hopefully things will work out and she'll stay safe in their custody. He can only imagine what might happen if the Alliance takes her back before Cerberus is dealt with.

~~~~

_She's waking, her vision is blurry and.. wait, she's seen this before. The bubbles, and the figures in white. Was it all just a dream? Has she been here this whole time, never stepping foot outside the tank? She starts to panic, fighting the tube down her throat, thrashing about and-_ She wakes up sweating, panting, wide-eyed and tries to focus on her surroundings. The lighting is dim, she's in a large bed and a room with a comfortable amount of space. There's a set of windows to her left, it's dark outside. She checks herself for injury, remembering vaguely being thrown to the ground by an explosion.

“Did I escape?” she whispers to herself. _Or did they..._ She's out of the bed, slowly making her way to the window. They wouldn't let her be closer to the outside, they'd have locked her up. She opens the window, letting a comfortable breeze in and looks out. She's on the second floor. The property is large, covered with various forms of plant-life and she can see the glint off an entrance gate at the far end. Beyond the perimeter she can see the glow of lights from a nearby city, fading into the dark starry sky and revealing two crescent moons. “Where am I?” she thinks out loud. So lost in thought, she didn't hear the door open.

“You're on Palaven.” replies a small voice.

She jumps and turns to face the source of the voice and sees a small turian child, almost her size. Before she can ask who he is, she notices he's hiding behind the legs of an adult and spots two more at the door. She panics, letting out a strained cry, and backs up to the window. Her eyes are wide, fearful, and she's trying to think of a way out. One of the adults approaches slowly, hands up in a sign of peace, and she hears something about the facility. She feels boxed in, she needs to get out. _It's a trick, they caught me and now they're going to make me fight. Was that woman I saved part of this? Did she take me back?_ Her biotics start to flare. _I knew I should have kept going, I should have-_

~

Nihlus can see her panicking, she's hyperventilating, looking to do something rash. He sees her biotics flicker and approaches her slowly, hands up to let her know he's not a threat. “Easy now. It's alright. My name is Nihlus. I rescued you from that facility you were in.” Her breathing becomes more erratic, _she can't hear me_ , and before she can hurt anyone he makes a decision and grabs her in one swift move. She starts to scream and struggle, so he tightens his embrace and hums a soothing tone hoping to calm her.

She slowly stops resisting and he takes a second to see if she calmed down or passed out. Her eyes are still open, minus the wild look she held before. Her breathing has started to even out and he chances a slight release in his grip. She doesn't make any move to run. He looks back at his aunt and Tarquin, who's still hiding behind her legs, and gestures for him to come over and introduce himself. _Hopefully someone her age and size will put her at ease._

Tarquin squeaks at the suggestion and his mother gives him a reassuring nudge. He looks up at her, then to Nihlus, and slowly inches forward. Nihlus nods to where he should stand and he goes there. He can tell she's scared, he's scared too, but he gathers enough cheer when he introduces himself.

“Hi. My name is Tarquin, what's yours?”

~

She sees the child come into view and looks up at him when he asks her name. Her name. She can't remember if she has one. There's nothing in her imprint to tell her what it is. “I.. I don't know,” she replies softly, “They called me **Subject J009**.” She looks up at the woman he was hiding behind and sees her exchange glances to the two other adults in the room. The woman approaches and kneels down next to Tarquin.

“My name is Ashta, I'm Tarquin's mother.” Ashta looks behind her again, to the adult still by the door, then adds “How does Aiaras sound?”

She looks to Tarquin, then to the floor. _They can't be from the lab, why would they want to give me a name?Why would this one be holding me? Why wouldn't he use a taser instead?_ She looks back up to the woman, Ashta, tears in her eyes. _Aiaras.._ “Thank you.” No longer feeling threatened, Aiaras relaxes and succumbs to exhaustion.

Nihlus picks her up gently, and takes her back to the bed. He pulls up the covers and looks over to his uncle in the doorway. “That went fairly well.”

 

~~~~

  
“Ashta, have you seen Tarquin? Our shore-leave is ending and Nihlus and I need to head back.” He spots his wife peeking through the door to Aiaras' room, her silver eyes flash over to him and she puts a talon to her mouth. Curiosity piqued, Adrien joins her and feels his chest fill with joy. Their son is sitting in a chair next to the bed, resting his head on his crossed arms on the bed, and just staring in wonder at their guest.

“He's been doing this since that night,” Ashta whispered. “She hasn't woken up yet, and he's just been fascinated with her. Every morning he finishes his breakfast and hurries over to her side, hoping she'll wake up again.”

Adrien looks back to his wife, who's grinning as she closes the door, and slips his arms around her waist. “I'm sorry for having to go so soon. I brought her here and now I'm leaving you alone with a mysterious child.” He nuzzles her neck and she crosses her arms over his on her waist.

“It's alright dear, I know you'd stay if you could. She's lucky you're the ones who found her.” Ashta turns to face him, placing a hand on the side of his face, “Tarquin's excited to have a new friend, and we both know she'll be well cared for here. Don't you worry about a thing. You two just complete your next assignment and make it back to see how well she's doing, okay?"

He leans into her caress and takes a deep breath. She's reassured him and his mind is a little more at ease than a moment before. Adrien holds her close and nuzzles her forehead, when there's a muffled _thud_ from the bedroom. The couple look at each other, then at the door and ease it open a bit. Their hearts are overjoyed at the sight that greets them on the other side.

~~~

_She dreams she is outside, running up a hill underneath a starlit sky. She's out of breath and her cheeks are flushed. Laughing, she's laughing so hard that she falls to the ground and rolls on her back. Someone is with her, they're laughing too. She takes her eyes from the sky, looks over to her companion and sees beautiful deep teal eyes looking back at her..._

Aiaras wakes to those same eyes, a little too close to her face. She jolts awake the rest of the way, pushing backwards through the sheets, and a muted scream escapes her lips before things come into focus. The space where those eyes were is empty, and she cautiously crawls to the side of the bed. As she peeks over, Aiaras sees Tarquin sitting on the floor staring wide-eyed back at her. They're both panting a little, having clearly scared each other with her waking. They stay like that for a moment. She looking down at him, he looking up at her. Their breathing starts to even out when they break into a fit of giggles.

There's movement just beyond her view of Tarquin and she looks up, giggles subsiding. Tarquin follows her gaze and sees his parents watching them from the doorway.

~

He notices his father is in his armor and jumps up into a dash toward him. “Papa, are you leaving again?” He asks, as his father picks him up, cradling with one arm under his hind-side.

“Yes, son, we are. We were only allowed to stay for a short while this time, but when we return next, you'll have us for much longer.” Tarquin nuzzles into his fathers neck, holding him tightly. He knows not to ask his father to stay, he has his duty to Palaven. As he's let down Nihlus comes into view and he repeats the same action, but adds a jump into his cousin's arms.

~

Aiaras watches Tarquin run over to his father, and hears him say that he's going to be gone a while. She doesn't know why but there's a pain in her chest at the thought of him and the other leaving. She sits back on the bed and crosses her legs, staring down into her lap. _What if Cerberus comes back while they're away?_ She doesn't want to go back to that place. She doesn't want to think of what might happen to Ashta and Tarquin if they do. Her thoughts are interrupted by a chirp and she looks up to see Tarquin right in front of her again. He's holding his hand out to her, asking her to say goodbye to the duo. Aiaras is hesitant at first, but Tarquin is persistent and just grabs a hold of her and nearly drags her over to his dad.

Adrien kneels down so that he's almost eye-to-eye with her, and gives her a calm look, with his arms opened slightly. “I'm Tarquin's father, Adrien.” She looks over to Tarquin, who nods in encouragement, then walks into his open arms. He gives her a hug and tells her that he'll be back soon. She doesn't start crying until Nihlus repeats the gesture and she wraps her arms tightly around his neck. He makes the same soothing sounds he did her first night here and she calms down enough to let him go. Nihlus pats her on the head, messing her hair, and promises to spend time with both her and Tarquin when he returns.

 

Ashta, Tarquin and Aiaras stand in the doorway waving goodbye as the skycar pulls away. Nihlus tells himself that, for once, he can't wait 'til an assignment is over and he can come home. Adrien chuckles, for Nihlus had said that aloud, and hums in approval at the sentiment.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: When Aiaras is with turians, she speaks turian. When she is with humans, she'll speak human. If she speaks a word not native to who she's talking with, it'll be denoted as **smaller bold** text. Even though omni-tools are used, this is more for how she is heard. (natural or 'tool filtered)


	4. Chapter 3 - "Duality"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few months have passed and Aiaras' curiosity sparks something wonderful within the Victus household.

**Return to Innocence  
** **Chapter Three – "Duality"**

 _'We are like birds of a feather_  
We are two hearts joined together  
We will be forever as one  
 _My brother, under the sun'  
_ _~Brother's Under the Sun by Bryan Adams_

 **  
** ** _                                                                                                                                                                    
_ ** **_2173_ **

 

It's early in the morning when Ashta hears giggling followed by the patter of feet across the floor. She opens her eyes slightly, letting them adjust to the breaking dawn peeking through the window, and rolls away from it to the edge of the bed. She sighs and smiles to herself, wishing that Adrien was here to experience this with her. It makes her so happy that Aiaras has settled in and that she and Tarquin get along so well. Though, now that she thinks about it, this also means there's probably a mess of sorts waiting for her outside the bedroom.

Ashta chuckles softly and sits up, grabbing her omni-tool off the bedside table and slides it on the index talon of her right hand. It beeps to let her know it's active and synced with the subdermal chip. She opens up her calendar to see what's on the to-do list for today, then the news and the weather. When she's done, she gets up and slips on her morning wear: a simple, sheer, light-blue wraparound that ties with a sash around her waist. It's her favorite, a gift from Adrien, and she loves how the blue compliments her blue-gray skin. She enters the master bathroom and washes up before painting on her love's markings, a wonderful contrast to her matte black plates. Satisfied with her work, she prepares herself for whatever awaits her on the other side of the door.

~~~~

Way too early in the morning, Tarquin is abruptly awakened by a body crash-landing on top of him.

“Hey sleepy head, wake up!”

He pretends he's still asleep, and rolls over. The bed shifts, and he thinks that she's leaving until a pillow comes down on his face.

“Mmm, go'way, s'eepin,” he mumbles.

“Nooo, wake up! I wanna do something for Ashta.”

Curious, he pops an eye open and looks at Aiaras.

“Mom's not even up yet. She won't be happy if we wake her this early. Why not wait 'til later?”

She pouts, he's learned this look, and he buries his face in his pillow.

“Frrrrrrne,” Tarquin sighs into the fabric, then turns to her again with a grin, “but first...” He grabs his pillow and smacks her across the head before bouncing out of bed and out the door.

Stunned, Aiaras just stands there. It takes her a second to realize he's not in the room anymore and she runs after him, a pillow in tow.

 

Soft fibers float gently around them. They're breathing heavily, laughing and holding on to the remnants of their pillows. Aiaras looks around them and sees the mess they've made. Not exactly what she wanted to have when Ashta woke up, but she'll clean that when they're done. “Okay,” she says between breaths, “about that thing I wanna do.”

~~~

Ashta is standing in the sitting room, looking at the mess of fluffy fibers on the surface of the furniture and floor. _Well, this is probably the easiest to clean of everything it_ could _have been._ She looks around the room, not seeing the two, and she catches a scent of something..sweet and _burnt_? Ashta quickens her pace to the kitchen and is welcomed by the sight of a powdered explosion and various food stuffs covering the counter. Her mind is at ease when she sees it's just the toaster smoking a little. Looking over to the right she sees two frozen bodies, one holding a tray with what she recognizes as breakfast, staring back at her wide-eyed.

She smiles sweetly at the pair, “Is that for me?”

They nod, and Aiaras replies, “We were just bringing it to you but if-”

“Breakfast in bed sounds wonderful.” Ashta interrupted.

Aiaras beams up at her and she chuckles. The kids wait for her to turn and head back to the bedroom before they followed suit, being extra careful not to drop anything on the way.

~~~

 _It's so wonderful. Mom enjoyed Aiaras' surprise and I liked it too. I wonder if we have a holiday like this. I haven't heard about it if we do; we should. It's a wonderful thing to appreciate your mom, even if that person isn't really your mom_.Tarquin excused himself to the bathroom but he really wanted to get a head start cleaning up their mess and give them a little one-on-one time.

~

Ashta and Aiaras acknowledge Tarquin's departure and continue talking. Ashta was just about finished with her breakfast drink when she noticed Aiaras was a little fidgety. Thinking it was because she was nervous about the breakfast mess Ashta wanted to reassure her it was alright.

“Don't worry about the mess, dear. This was a wonderful and pleasant surprise.”

Aiaras stopped fidgeting at the statement, but had a look of unease all of a sudden. Before she could ask what was wrong, Aiaras spoke.

“I'm glad you liked it,” she said softly. Then looking down, almost shy, she continued. “I was looking up human and turian holidays, because I was curious, and I came across one that humans normally celebrate.” Aiaras looked up at Ashta, a small smile appearing on her face, “It's called 'Mothers Day'.”

She started to blush, her little cheeks turning a light blue, and looked nervous while still smiling. “I know you're not really my mom but I don't have a mom and you've been really nice to me and I really like it here and I was wondering if it was okay if I called you,” a breath, “Mom?”

Aiaras had said that so fast, right up 'til the end, that it took Ashta a moment to process everything she just heard. She'd loved Aiaras as her own from day one and, though it was a lot to hope for, looked forward to the day when Aiaras would maybe call her 'Mom'. It's only been about 5 months, she hadn't expected this to come up so soon. Realizing Aiaras was staring at her, and started to look worried, Ashta released the breath she didn't know she was holding and smiled, tears in her eyes.

“Oh sweetie,” Ashta held her arms out and tried to hold the tears back. “Of course you can call me Mom.”

Aiaras' eyes went wide before a huge smile appeared across her face. She breathed a short laugh before jumping into Ashta's arms, nearly knocking over the tray in her lap.

~

Tarquin was just on his way back to collect his mother's tray when he caught the end of the conversation. He had a feeling that's what Aiaras was planning but didn't say anything. He didn't want to make Aiaras any more nervous than she probably already was. Tarquin smiled as he heard his mom say yes. He could only imagine the look on Aiaras' face at his, _their_ , mom's answer. Then giggled as he heard the clanking of the tray from, what he guessed, was Aiaras jumping into her arms.

He thought it was safe now to open the door and he slowly walked in. He looked at their mother, Aiaras' face buried in her neck, and smiled. She opened up an arm and he walked over, moved the tray further down the bed, and joined his mom and _sister_.

~~~~

Aiaras and Tarquin are just cleaning up after lunch when they hear the sound of ground transport pulling up. They stop what they're doing and look at each other, excitement in their eyes, and run to the window. Outside are Adrien and Nihlus, both in civilian wear, retrieving their footlockers from the back seat.

“Mooooooom!” they both shout. Aiaras swings open the front door and shouts back. “Moom, they're back!!”

Tarquin runs past her, into Adrien's arms and Aiaras follows suit to Nihlus. The two adults are staring at each other, then Aiaras, then the doorway where Ashta is standing. Did they just hear that right? Before they could say anything Ashta had walked up with a talon to her mouth, she'd tell them later.

 

  
Ashta leaves the bedroom, both children sleeping soundly, and closes the door quietly. She walks back to the sitting room where Adrien and Nihlus are waiting.

“We stopped at the Citadel on the way back,” Adrien starts. “The Primarch set up a meeting with Pallin to sort out the legality of Aiaras' circumstance.”

Ashta sips a hot beverage and nods for her mate to continue.

“The story is that Aiaras is a duct rat who was found by C-sec. It is common knowledge that C-sec tries to adopt out these children to either fellow officers or friends/family before trying to adopt out to the community.” It's also common that the community doesn't favor duct rats and those children end up in the system or back on the street, so it's up to C-sec to really come through for them.

“It's on record that Pallin contacted me while I was docked and asked for a favor.” They knew their friend wasn't a fan of humans but he cared about the children, regardless of species. Adrien continued, “While it's typically done within ones species, I was her last hope before she was given up to the community.”

Nihlus huffed a chuckle silently, remembering the ordeal. “He didn't even ask, like he didn't want to know any more than he was already involved in.”

“But he wrote up the documentation, confirming all of this truly happened, and made sure there's no vids to suggest otherwise.” Adrien finished.

Ashta nodded again, pleased that everything was taken care of. She stared at both men and saw they were expecting her to share as well. She breathed a light laugh. “I suppose it's my turn now?”

“About a month ago I woke up to a surprise breakfast. Breakfast in bed.” she smiled, “Such a lovely thing it was.”

Adrien looked a bit surprised. She was normally very neat and orderly and eating in bed was most certainly not part of that.

“She explained that she had looked up turian and human holidays out of curiosity. I know, I was surprised she could read that well too but who knows with... Anyway, she told me of the human holiday called 'Mothers Day'” Ashta let that sink in before continuing. “Then she gathered up the courage to rapidly explain how she felt about everything, how much she liked it here, and slipped in the question if she could call me, Mom.” She started to tear, remembering that day so very clearly. “Of course I said yes and she promptly jumped in my lap and hugged me. Tarquin must have heard the exchange, he had left prior, because when he came back in he was smiling like he knew. He joined the two of us and we ended up falling back asleep.”

They sat in a pleasant silence. This was all going to work out. Aiaras had accepted them as her family. Her calling Ashta, Mom, was plenty proof of that, as if the way she played with Tarquin or hugged Adrien and Nihlus wasn't.

Nihlus tried to stifle a yawn but failed. They looked at each other and decided it was probably best if they called it a night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I would like to apologize for such a delay and such a short chapter. Between writer's block, and losing my muse, and real life and other obsessions, I just never got around to it. I just started a second job and will have a class Wednesday nights so I'll probably be sparse again. I will try and do better though. It's not fair to those of you taking a chance with this story to be left hanging for so long, so close to the beginning. To anyone still following, thank you for your patience.


	5. Chapter 4 - "Enigma"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2 years later and something is on Aiaras' mind...

** Return to Innocence ** **  
** **Chapter 4 – “Enigma”**

_'Close your tired eyes, relax and then_  
Count from 1 to 10 and open them.  
 _All these heavy thoughts will try to weigh you down._  
 _But not this time'  
_ _ ~Shooting Star by Owl City_

_**  
2175** _

  
Aiaras wakes up bright and early, the sun barely illuminating across the hallway to the next bedroom. She quietly pads across the floor and cracks the door open. Inside she can see the curtain drawn shut. Mischievously, she scurries to the window and throws the curtains wide open.

“Rise and shine sleepy head!”.

Nothing.

She pouts for a moment before settling on a devious grin and runs to jump on the bed.

“Wakey,” bounce, “wakey!”

Still bouncing she crosses her arms then bounces into a sitting position. Aiaras thinks for a moment and then falls back on an old tactic. She reaches over and grabs an unused pillow before hitting her target over the head.

“C'mon, Tarquin, wake up!”

“Ghhhh, m'ay” he mumbles.

“What was that? I can't hear youuuu” she taunts while hitting him a few more times.

“Ung, c'mon Aiaras. Doesn't this ever get old?” Tarquin finally responds and turns over to face her as one more swing of the pillow comes in contact with his face.

Aiaras is now laughing uncontrollably at the deadpan look Tarquin is giving her while a few fibers float gently down around him. He should really be used to waking up like this by now but it's almost like a game at this point. She wakes him up, he gets 'mad' and then...  
  
Aiaras's laughing stops when she sees movement. Tarquin flops over the blankets and lands over her with an evil smirk on his face. Aiaras turns serious for a second before, “Don't you even d-!”, Tarquin starts tickling her mercilessly.

~

The screaming and giggling can be heard down the hall. Nihlus is awake, still laying down, staring at the ceiling with a smile on his face. Those two are birds of a feather and it makes him feel so euphoric that they act like siblings. He rolls out of bed and makes his way to the door when he hears the one across from his open as well. Adrien and Ashta are both grinning and the three of them venture down the hallway to see what the mischievous duo are doing to each other _this_ time.

 

“Tarquin!” Gasp. “I can't,” giggle, “breathe!” Aiaras tries to plead for mercy but Tarquin knows she's fine and keeps at it. Aiaras manages to get into a favorable position and launches Tarquin over her head and onto the floor. Surprised it actually worked she catches her breath and peeks over the bed to make sure he's okay. Tarquin is on his back, head near the bed, and staring up at her wide-eyed completely not expecting to be on the floor. Aiaras puffs at a strand of hair in her face and grins down at him. It's then that both of them notice the door is fully open with an audience.

“'Morning!” they greet in unison.

~~~

“Thank you, Mom, for breakfast that was super yummy!” Tarquin exclaims from his seat at the table.

Ashta chuckles at her son's appearance. His face is covered in sticky sweetness and his plate is nearly licked clean. “Of course, dear, anything for the birthday boy.” she replies while wiping a damp cloth across his face in an attempt to clean it.

Meanwhile, in the next room, Aiaras and Nihlus are setting up a few in-door decorations for when the guests arrive. Nihlus is at the top of a step-ladder asking Aiaras for the item in hand but notices she's staring blankly at the wall.

“Aiaras, could you hand that to me now?” He asks in an attempt to get her attention.

Nothing.

“Aiaras?” Still no response. “Aiaras??” At this point Nihlus climbs down and grasps her shoulder, coming eye-level, and giving her a slight shake. “Aiaras, you okay?” This snaps her out of her thoughts and she makes eye-contact with him.

“Oh, sorry.” She then looks down at her feet.

“It's okay sweetie. Can you tell me what's on your mind?” He asks, knowing that this is unusual behavior for her.

Aiaras hesitates a moment, unsure of how to word her concern, but remembers it's Nihlus and he's easy to talk to. “Well, you see, I.” She sighs. “I'm just nervous about everyone coming over.” Nihlus looks at her with a little confusion. “I know we've been talking about it and that Tarquin didn't have a party last year so I could get acclimated but..” Aiaras walks over to the window and leans on the sill, just the right height to be comfortable, looking out. “I know things are still tense between turians and humans. The war was only eighteen years ago. I know some of the people coming over today were involved and look down upon them. Tarquin hasn't seen his friends or cousins in almost two years because of me and I don't want them to run off because I'm here.”

Nihlus just stares at her in disbelief. _How much does she know if she's known_ that _this whole time?_ Citizens of Palaven don't officially learn about the 'Relay 314 Incident' until a year or two before enlisting. He reaches behind him and grabs a chair to sit on and puts her on his knee. “Aiaras, why, how-” He's unsure of what to say. She's soon to be '7' herself and to have her mind full of thoughts like that.. “What do you want to do? Do you want to hang out in the guest room upstairs or something?”

She squirms a bit at the suggestion. “Do you think Mom and Dad could talk to them? The adults, I mean, and maybe prepare them for seeing me? Then I can come down and play outside with everyone? I don't want you all to keep feeling like I need to be kept hidden.” Aiaras starts picking at her sleeve, clearly uneasy about the discussion she's having. “I know not to tell Tarqu-”

“Tell me what?”

Aiaras nearly jumps out of her skin. Clearly having relaxed too much and tries to regain her composure before turning around with a grin. “Well if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?!” She deflects and again Nihlus is stunned.

_Where in the Spirits did that come from? How quickly she changed from such a heavy conversation back to her normal.. Wait. What is-_ He's pulled out of his thoughts by a tap on his shoulder. Ashta looking at him as if asking what that was all about. “I'll tell you outside. I'm supposed to help Uncle anyway.” Nihlus turns to the two kids, “You guys behave yourselves. We're going to help your dad with the preparations outside.”

“Okay!” They say as they run down the hall.

 

Ashta and Adrien are reticent after hearing what transpired just moments ago. Their little Aiaras talking solemnly and then changing face so quickly. It's not normal for a child no matter where they hail from. “Wait,” Ashta starts, “she referred to humans as 'them'.” This gets a look from Adrien and Nihlus. “And don't even try to say she meant it to be she identifies as turian. If she's talking and acting like that, her wording was deliberate. Maybe not conscious, but deliberate.”

“It makes you wonder.” This time it's Adrien. “What exactly did we stumble upon when we found her two years ago?”

“Regardless, I don't think she's been acting up 'til now. Not on purpose anyway. She hasn't had any reason to think critically so she's been able to be the child she's supposed to be.” Nihlus reasoned.

This was a bit surprising to his aunt and uncle. Mostly his uncle. Nihlus rarely has a serious thought outside of missions. Whether it's pretend or he's sincerely a daydreamer is now in question. _Two surprising personality exposures in one day. Let's hope this is as interesting as the day gets. The party hasn't even started_. Adrien thinks to himself before snapping the other two out of thought with a canopy to set up.

~~~~

There are kids playing out back, running around trying to tackle one another. Tarquin's currently being pursued by several turians and a few asari, his friends and soon-to-be classmates. Aiaras laughs to herself as she watches him get piled on after he tripped over something in the grass.

“Everything good kiddo?” Nihlus asks from the doorway.

“Yep! This is fun. I get to watch Tarquin get his butt kicked by someone other than me!” Aiaras giggles as she turns her attention back to the window.

Nihlus huffs a laugh as he turns to leave and recalls a minor training session he had with the two. Aiaras may have had an unfair advantage, if you want to call it that, with the Cerberus meddling and she planted Tarquin firmly on his back within minutes of their first lesson. He makes his way down the stairs and through the kitchen to the backyard. Tarquin has managed to wriggle his way out of the bottom of the pile and is laying on his back trying to catch his breath.

“Rough day?” He asks and reaches down to his cousin.

“Just. Getting. Started.” Tarquin replies between breaths.

“Heheh, let's make things interesting shall we?” Nihlus hands Tarquin a water balloon and nods his head in the direction of the wading pool full of more.

 

 

The adults are gathered inside, enjoying beverages and snacks in the sitting room, while watching their kids through the large sliding door in the kitchen. There's idle chatter about clan activity, upcoming deployment and a new school year for some of the children. Ashta is bringing in more drinks when her husband gets the group's attention.

“I'd like to thank everyone for coming this year for Tarquin's birthday. It means a lot to us and Tarquin has surely missed all of you as well. A few of you have asked why we held off last year and I'd like to address that now.” Adrien opened his introduction for Aiaras and was continuing to hope to keep things calm from here on out. “Over a year ago I was approached by Executor Pallin for assistance. C-Sec had come across a young duct-rat who need-”.

“Wait a minute!” One of his clansmen interrupted, on guard all of a sudden. “Does anyone else smell that?!”

_Oh, Spirits, this isn't going to end well._ Adrien kept calm and attempted to redirect back to his story. “This duct-rat was going to be released to the Citadel community and we all know how well tha-”

“It's human!!”  
  
Some of the other clansmen and turians starting murmuring while the asari guests could tell where this was headed and started to quietly retrieve their children.

“Yes, Heris. You do, in fact, smell a human.”

There was some more whispering and some turians slipped away to get their children as well.

“You can't possibly tell me that this story of a duct-rat. That you're housing a human?!”

Ashta stepped in and answered, “Yes we are. We were her last chance at finding a home before being discard-”

“That's no excuse! There's no reason any turian should take in one of _them_.! And what's worse? Executor Pallin _suggested_ this? I find that hard to believe. He's got one of the biggest reasons to _hate_ those vile-”

“That's enough!” Adrien raised his voice and added a low growl to his flanging to tell his clansman to back off.

It was this that pulled Aiaras' attention from the window. She's never heard her father speak so loudly and was hoping everything was alright. Curiosity getting the better of her, she made her way down the stairs. She was instantly met with gasps and hissing.

“Mama,” she approached Ashta from behind and grasped her hand, “what's wrong?”

“Ma-. It thinks you're its mother?!!” Heris was seething. “This is the most outrageous-”, he turns on Aiaras with hate flaring from his eyes, “ _You_ are _not_ turian! Your kind is a deceitful, greedy, war-mongering bunch of pyjaks that should have been annihilated the moment we crossed through the relay. It's a damned shame they found you. You should have _died_ in the labyrinth of death that's only fitting for the kind of filth that you are!!”

With every word he spoke Aiaras felt so small but tried to keep her composure. She knew, almost expected, the hate felt by some of the citizens of Palaven but this? How could her family be related to someone like this? She stared straight into his eyes, feeling a slight prickling at hers, and spoke with a quiet fury as she replied. “No matter how much you hate humans there's still no reason to speak to a child like that. It may be true that some humans are as you said but not all of them. Sure there are those who can be cruel, even to their own kind, and do unspeakable things.” Aiaras looks down at her feet, feeling her scars beneath her sleeves, then continues, “But they're the exception, not the rule.” She looks back up at Heris, tears threatening to betray her. “I'm sorry for whatever they may have done to your people but I'm not them. I wasn't even-”

Aiaras notices the rest of the kids and parents leaving behind the turian she's speaking to. With that, her eyes go wide in realization of what's been happening around her. She covers her mouth in shock and turns to face Adrien and Ashta, both unreadable to her. “I, oh no, Tarquin”, she turns when she hears the kitchen door slide open and see Tarquin and Nihlus walking in, “I'm so sorry!” She apologizes and runs back upstairs.

Tarquin comes in confused to why everyone suddenly left and sees Aiaras run up the stairs, catching the slight sound of a choked sob. “Mom, Dad, what happened? Where'd everyone go?”

Before they can reply Heris gets in a last word. “You can thank your parents and that pyjak upstairs for-”

Tarquin reacts before thinking and sucker-punches the adult in the waist before running up after Aiaras.

He knows where she is, he can hear her muffled sobs coming from one of the guest rooms. Slowly he enters and makes his way to the closet in the far corner. There he finds Aiaras, curled up and crying hysterically.

When she realizes someone's there she looks up and starts crying even harder when she sees it's him. “Oh, Tarquin, I'm so sorry!” She's gasping for breath between sobs, looking at him with pleading eyes. “I didn't mean- I ruined your birthday. Your friends are gone. Your clan-”. She breaks down even more and starts to hyperventilate.

_I've never seen her like this. Well, there was our first day but she wasn't crying._ Tarquin kneels down and hugs Aiaras tightly. While he's holding her he moves himself next to her in the corner and pulls her close, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Aiaras curls against his chest, sniffling through broken sobs.

~~

“What was all that about?” Nihlus inquires, noticing that his aunt and uncle are frozen speechless. “I can tell a few didn't agree with having Aiaras here but what was that last bit?” He adds, thumbing toward the stairs.

“That damned Heris picked up her scent before I could finish the 'story' and went off.” Adrien explained. “Aiaras must have been concerned when I raised my voice and came down to see what was wrong. Which, unfortunately, exacerbated the situation.” He sighs, and looks at Ashta who still can't believe what she just witnessed. “Then Heris turned his anger on Aiaras, full-on, and she stood there and just stared at him. We thought she was going to cry, what child wouldn't after hearing the things he said, but she diplomatically put him on his ass. She must have realized the guests were leaving and turned around with a scared look on her face and apologized before running upstairs.” Adrien finished.

Nihlus rubbed his hand over his face and crest before letting out a sigh. “She was afraid this would happen and we let it.”

The three of them looked at each other, then up the stairwell and began their ascent. They made their way to the guest room Aiaras had been hiding out in and saw the closet door was open. What they found was bittersweet and pulled at their hearts. Aiaras was slumped over on Tarquin's lap, asleep, with Tarquin stroking her hair. He notices them and holds a talon to his mouth. The adults silently acknowledge the gesture and leave them be.

 

Sitting at the kitchen table the three adults sit quietly reflecting on the day's events. Ashta breaks the silence with a thought.

“She did it again.” This gets the attention of her husband and nephew. “She referred to humans as 'them' and, to Heris, turians as 'your people'.” Ashta sighs with a hint of worry. “I know she has us but does she feel that she doesn't belong? I can't even begin to think how she feels now after that altercation. She's just a child, she shouldn't have had to suffer through that.” She keens softly as the thoughts continue in her mind.

Adrien pulls Ashta to his shoulder and rubs her arm in a soothing manner. Nihlus excuses himself when he hears his uncle hum a soothing tone to calm his aunt. He quietly makes his way back up the stairs to check on the kids. This time he finds Tarquin sleeping as well, his arm still wrapped around Aiaras. _Well,_ Nihlus thinks to himself, _at least she's got him to make her feel safe._ He walks over to the bed, grabs a blanket, and maneuvers it so it covers Aiaras and some of Tarquin. Satisfied, he smiles and leaves the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, so sorry for the delay (again). I keep hitting roadblocks. Most people have trouble creating the endgame and I'm stuck on the playthrough. And as sad as I am to say, my delays may continue because I've got 2 jobs and starting 3 classes this semester. Please know I'm always thinking about my story and look for time to write it.


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